In optical communication applications, the optical transceiver is an important element in a photoelectric transforming interface. Signal transmission speed may range from 155 Mb/s to 1.25 Gb/s or even 10 Gb/s. Various types of packages are available depending on application environments, such as a 1×9 pin, GBIC (GigaBit Interface Converter), SFF (Small Form Factor), SFP (Small Form Factor Pluggable), and the like. The 1×9 pin and SFF adopt a fixed packaging method that are difficult to remove once the module is installed in the system. The GBIC and SFP adopt a pluggable approach that can be removed and replaced after installing in the system.
In the design of the pluggable module, many factors have to be considered, such as electricity issues while plugging the module, reliability and convenience of the plugging mechanism. For instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,439,918 and 6,533,603 assigned to Finisar Co. disclose a SFP module that has a latching mechanism ramming the bottom of the module through a lever to extend or retract the latching mechanism in the module. U.S. Pat. No. 6,494,623 assigned to Infineon Co. also discloses a SFP release mechanism, which has a lever turnable to press a locking reed of a transceiver to extend a latch of the module to escape a locking reed for releasing the module.
Another example is U.S. patent application No. 20030171016, which has a lever and elastic latch reeds located on two sides of a module for anchoring. In normal conditions, the elastic latch reeds maintain the anchor condition through a spring located therein. When the lever is moved downwards, the elastic latch reeds are moved outwards and the jutting distal ends thereof are disengaged.
Those references mostly employ latch mechanisms that are complex and require expensive elements. They also are difficult to fabricate and assemble. For instance, U.S. patent application No. 20030171016 requires two elastic latch reeds and a spring in each of them. It involves too many elements. Fabrication and assembly are difficult.